Blind Child
by warau
Summary: Uchiha Itachi's past, and the events leading up to the Uchiha massacre
1. Chapter 1

/3 years after Naruto was born

Uchiha Itachi

Academy was a bore.

Each day in class, we did nothing but review the same Justu over and over again-the transformation jutsu.

Of course, I passed it the first time with ease, but some kids' transformations were pretty shaky.

Especially one kid.

Whenever Hiro walked up to try, she would disappear in a cloud of mist and come out looking no different: White hair tied back, and blank, empty eyes.

She was just about the only one holding us up from moving on to more advanced Justus.

On the 30th day focusing on the transformation jutsu, I was growing impatient.

After class, I caught sight of Hiro disappearing through a back door.

I grabbed my books and ran after her.

She went into the forest, swatting aside branches and moving surprisingly fast on the uneven ground.

She stopped in a small clearing that was empty with the exception of one gnarled tree. I silently moved closer and saw that the tree had a large knot in it.

Several kunai were on the ground in front of it, and one was embedded in the center of the knot.

I camouflaged myself in the leaves as Hiro exercised "target practice" using the kunai and the knot.

To my amazement, she had pinpoint precision. The first kunai hit dead center, and the second one knocked the first one out, and in turn hit the knot in the exact same place the first one had.

She continued this for a while, until she had one kunai left.

This one was not thrown straight at the target, but instead into the air.

It seemed to hang there for a while, and then, it made a loop.

In midair.

It made another loop, then a spiral.

Figure eights.

Steep dives, sharp turns.

It wrote the kanji for Hiro.

And then, finally, it flew into the target and Hiro was on her knees, breathing hard.

I ran into the clearing.

"Hiro-San, you're amazing!"

She turned, alarmed.

"That voice...Uchiha Itachi?"

"Yes, it's me. Was that wind chakra?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"You can control your chakra nature?"

She brushed her hair out of the way and looked at my face, though not into my eyes.

"Apparently."

This girl was really, really awkward.

I sighed.

"You know, I always wondered. Why is it you can't perform the transformation jutsu? Is it a problem with the hand seals, or what?"

"No. "

She explained the problem very quietly to me.

I blinked. "Well, in that case..."

/next day

Uchiha Itachi

Hiro walked up to perform the jutsu.

She did not look at sensei.

She simply disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared, thought this time, there was a visible difference.

It wasn't exactly accurate, but she'd gotten sensei's brown hair, shinobi jacket, and black eyes, as well as most other basic features.

And sensei was so pleased that he announced we would move on to clone jutsu.

I looked sideways at Hiro and realized I was looking at the only person in the academy more skilled than myself.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Hiro

I am a Hyuga. My clan possesses the world-renowned byakugan: an incredible dojutsu that allows users to see chakra.

To my family, the byakugan is a tool that allows them to further their abilities.

To me, it is the only thing that keeps me from being swallowed by darkness.

Itachi

Hiro's problem was not the hand seals. It was not anything I had imagined.

Though she had no problem performing a transformation, she could not change into someone by looking at them, simply because she could not see them.

I was surprised by this.

"How can you see the target?"

"I have my byakugan, and therefore I can see shapes and bodies of energy. However, I cannot see details, or more specifically in our case, what sensei looks like.

I considered this.

"So your byakugan is always on?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Wow."

"Yes."

Back to one word answers, I see.

"Then in that case, all I have to do is tell you what sensei looks like?"

"Okay."

As Hiro successfully performed the jutsu, sensei was speechless. Partly because Hiro had made him so ugly.

Nonetheless, he announced the class had passed the transformation lesson, and began his beginning-of-unit lecture on clone jutsu.

"The clone jutsu is one of the most basic units of ninjutsu. You must learn to conjure up clones of yourselves quickly and proficiently."

I glanced at Hiro.

Her expression was one of silent annoyance, as though she was trying to figure out what she looked like.

She turned her head toward me, and somehow I could hear her thoughts.

Help me. I don't know who I am.

I could only bite my lip and marvel at how sorrowful those words were.

/after class

I followed Hiro to the forest clearing.

We sat down in the soft grass, and I explained to her that she didn't need to know what she looked like to create a clone.

However, before I could elaborate on how exactly to create a clone, she interrupted me.

"Itachi?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you want?"

"Um. What do you mean?"

"What do you want? The most. What do you want the most?"

I looked at her.

"I want a gold-plate forehead protector. And a giant pet lizard."

She plucked a piece of grass out of the ground.

"I want to bring peace to the ninja world."

I stared at her.

"Oh, really."

"Yes."

"Well, a dream like that requires a lot of sacrifice, doesn't it."

"Maybe."

"You don't care, do you?"

"No."

"Good luck."

"Will you help me?"

"Hahaha...no."

"...oh."

I laughed.

"Of course I will, you idiot. Do you even have to ask?"


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3: Shisui's test

"I want to bring peace to the ninja world."

Itachi

"My name is Shisui Uchiha."

Hiro and I graduated from the academy at the top of our class.

"Under myself, you will learn advanced aspects of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu."

Because we were so young, we were given the opportunity to work with a jonin before joining ANBU.

"Let us start with a test, then."

He threw us a short length of rope.

"Tie one end around Itachi's left hand and the other around Hiro's right."

We did so. We then had to stay within 2 feet of each other.

He then dropped a kunai on the ground behind him.

"Try to grab this kunai. I will fight you to defend it. However, you must not untie the rope. Start."

I started toward Shisui, expecting Hiro to flank his other side. However, she instead leapt into the air.

Each pulled the other backwards, and we both fell sprawled to the ground.

Shisui laughed. "So these are the so-called jonin level students Minato has told me so much about. It seems he has misjudged you."

My eyes narrowed. "Hiro, this time I'll go to his right, you to his left. We'll jump over him and grab the kunai. Ready, on my command."

She nodded.

"Go!"

At first, the plan worked excellently. We flanked Shisui and prepared to execute the jump.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

A wave of fire erupted from Shisui's mouth.

Oh snap. I pulled Hiro downwards to avoid the jutsu, and pretty soon we were in the grass, just as before.

I spit grass out of my mouth.

"Shisui! How are we supposed to take the kunai when you're using ninjutsu on us?"

"You could easily have countered that with a shield jutsu."

"We can't do hand seals, as you may have noticed!"

He gave us a baleful look.

"Why not? Do you not have two hands that are free? Is that not enough?"

I blinked. He was right. Hiro's left hand and my right hand.

We could have executed the hand seals together.

Shisui sighed and threw us the kunai.

"Do you know now? It is not enough to work together. Teamwork is an illusion. There is no team, only one ninja, with two different aptitudes. The two of you must exist as one person. You must jump to the same conclusions. Only then can a two-man cell such as you function properly."

I looked at Hiro. She was staring at him with a mesmerized look on her face.

"Thank you, Shisui."

He chuckled. "And one more thing. I am your superior, and should be treated as such. You will call me Sensei."

Hiro and I replied at the exact same time, articulation and all. "Yes, Sensei!"


End file.
